Before and Behind, a Random and Happy Tuesday A to Z Post

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It's time once again for a random and happy Tuesday, linking up with Stacy's Random Thoughts at Stacy Uncorked and Sandee at Comedy Plus.  

While i knew Carl had work on the schedule yesterday (i checked last week), the day before yesterday was Easter Sunday.  They host the family dinner for Easter Sunday.

This means anything can happen, and probably will.

Most of the kitchen had moved into the laundry room, and i did not even bother with photos of Carl's room.

Before i could start, i had to shift stuff back to the kitchen, which was covered with drying silverware and fancy china on every surface.  I found a few spaces and managed to get the washer open and the sink empty, and left it at that.

I went into Carl's room as he came, dressed, out of the bathroom from his shower.  He's getting better about that, the being dressed before exiting part, at least when i'm there on Mondays.

He started talking about his sister-in-law, Maggie, who had been there the day before.

"She's been hurt," he said.

I asked him what had happened thinking some sort of accident, and he muttered something about people at church, and i knew where he was going with the discussion.

Maggie and Carl's brother have been trying to have a child for years, and have finally given up after genetic testing showed they'd have a one in four chance of a child with cystic fibrosis.  Maggie has been very hurt by mean-spirited comments from church people.  It hasn't driven her away from the faith, just from church, which is sad.

I chose my words for Carl carefully.  Just because a person is born in a barn doesn't make him a horse, i told him.  In the same way, just going to church doesn't make you a believer, and even if you are, you might not be a very mature believer, or very sensitive to people in certain situations.  I hope they will find a church that has the support they need.

He nodded and left to go get breakfast while i tried to determine if the clothes on the dresser and bed had been worn before landing there.  When you pick up a pair of pants and coins fall out of the pockets, there's your sign.

While i was packing his lunch, Carl told me about his latest worry, the eclipse.  "They say people lost power!  You have to have food and water ready!"

I asked who was saying that, and he showed me a website which i then researched.  It is purportedly by scientists and about science reporting, but again i tried to choose my words well.

When you look at a site like this, i told him, you have to ask what's behind the science they are reporting.  Yes, i'm sure there were power outages during the last eclipse, there are power outages all over the world right now, small, local ones, but a local power problem during an eclipse doesn't mean the eclipse caused it.  I'd want to see what caused those outages, were there car wrecks that took down a pole, tree branches fell on a wire, what happened?  Two things happening at the same time doesn't mean one caused the other, correlation is not causation.

And the idea you can't eat or drink anything prepared during an eclipse because of radiation danger is sheer nonsense.  The sun is giving off the same radiation when it's not in eclipse as when it is, the eclipse has nothing to do with the sun itself and has no effect on it.  It's just the moon passing between us and the sun so the moon casts a shadow on Earth.

Then i encouraged him to ask his father, who is a PhD chemist about it all (and later gave Mr. L a head's up).

Carl is smart.  He has absolutely no executive function, so he can't tell what to do next when he loses his place, or put a plan of action into effect without direct guidance.  The IQ is plenty high enough, though, that he's insightful and thoughtful.

Enough of the serious topics on a Tuesday, how about some funnies?

Have a blessed and beautiful Tuesday, everyone!

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Today is

Easter Tuesday -- TAS, Australia; Cyprus; Nauru

Feast of Acan -- Ancient Mayan Calendar (god of wine, whose name means either "belch" or "groan", depending on your source -- although both seem apt, one during the celebration, the other after; date approximate)

Great Lovers Day -- you don't have to be a Cassanova to celebrate the great lovers in your life!

International Children's Book Day -- on the birth anniversary of Hans Christian Andersen, sponsored by IBBY (International Board on Books for Young People)

Malvinas Day -- Argentina (honors veterans of the Falklands War)

National Ferret Day -- US (The American Ferret Association)

National Love Your Produce Manager Day -- with its own Facebook page 

National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day

Reconciliation Day -- as recommended by columnist Ann Landers, use today to reach out and mend a broken relationship

Sizdehbedar -- Iran (Nature Day)

Southland Provincial Anniversary Day -- Southland, NZ

Spring Fever and Medical Aid Appeal -- Fairy Calendar

St. Francis of Paloa's Day (Patron of boatmen, mariners, naval officers, sailors, travellers, watermen; Amato, Italy; Calbria, Italy; Fossato Serraita, Italy; Sant'Agata di Esaro, Italy; against fire, plague, and sterility)

St. Urban of Langres' Day (Patron of barrel makers/coopers, gardeners, vine dressers/vine growers/vintners; Dijon, France; Langres, France; against alcoholism, blight, fainting, frost, storms)

Taily Day, Scotland (engage in pranks related to your tail end, a second day of April fooling)

Thai Heritage Conservation Day -- Thailand

Unity of Peoples of Russia and Belarus Day -- Belarus

World Autism Awareness Day -- UN

Anniversaries Today:

Napoleon Bonaparte marries the Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria, 1810

Birthdays Today:

Bethany Joy Galeotti, 1981

Christopher Meloni, 1961

Pamela Reed, 1953

Ron "Horshack" Palillo, 1949

Camille Paglia, 1947

Emmylou Harris, 1947

Linda Hunt, 1945

Leon Russell, 1942

Dr. Demento, 1941

Marvin Gaye, 1939

Jack Webb, 1920

Charles White, 1918

Alec Guinness, 1914

Buddy Ebsen, 1908

Max Ernst, 1891

Walter Chrysler, 1875

Emile Zola, 1840

Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, 1834

Hans Christian Anderson, 1805

Giovanni Giacomo Girolamo Casanova, 1725

Charlemagne, 742

Debuting/Premiering Today:

Nickelodeon(TV Cable Channel), 1979

"Dallas"(TV), 1978

"2001: A Space Odyssey"(Film), 1968

"As the World Turns"(TV), 1956

"The Edge of Night"(TV), 1956

Symphony No. 1 in C major(Beethoven Op. 21), 1800

Today in History:

Mehmed II begins his siege of Istanbul/Constantinople, 1453

Juan Ponce de Leon becomes the first European to set foot in Florida, 1513

"American Farmer," the first successful agricultural journal, begins publication, 1819

Victoria Woodhull becomes the first woman nominated for president of the US, 1870

The first Easter egg roll is held on the White House lawn, 1877

Puerto Rico is given limited self rule by the US Congress, 1900

The first full time movie theater, the "Electric Theater," opens in Los Angeles, 1902

The Titanic undergoes sea trials under her own power, 1912

President Woodrow Wilson asks Congress to declare war on Germany, 1917

Haile Selassie is proclaimed emperor of Ethiopia, 1930

Charles Lindbergh turns over the $50,000 ransom for his kidnapped son, 1932

The first official Panda crossing is opened outside Waterloo station, London, 1962

Argentine forces seize the Falkland Islands, beginning the Falklands War, 1982

Rita Johnston becomes the first female Premier of a Canadian province (British Columbia), 1991

Israeli forces surround and besiege the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem into which armed Palestinians had retreated, 2002

Three widows and two daughters of Osama bin Laden were charged with illegally living in Pakistan; they were sentenced with 45 days in jail and fined $114 each, 2012

The Arms Trade Treaty, the first-ever bill to regulate the global trade in conventional weapons, is passed by the U.N. General Assembly, 2013

Eurozone unemployment reaches a high of 12%, 2013

NASA states goals to go back to the Moon by 2024, and by 2033 to be sending astronauts to Mars, 2019

A new study published in Science Magazine suggests that the same meteor impact that wiped out the dinosaurs also created South America's rain forests, 2021

Footage of the snailfish, deepest living fish ever recorded, is released, 2023